Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1887-07-27

and the Holy Ghost who has all these veal
been importuning you? If you could s.
down five minutes under the tree OF :
Saviour's martyrdom and feel His war;
life trickling on your forehead and chez
and hands, methinks you would get som
= appreciation of what you owe to crucifie
Jesus.
"Heart of stone, relent. relent
Touched by Jesus's cross suhdued;
See His body mangled. rent,
| Covered with gore OF blood,
Sinful soul. what hast thou done?
| Crucifed the eternal Son"
Jacob with good deal of tug and pus
took the stone from the wells mouth, s
that the flocks might be watered. And
would that this morning my word, blesse
of God, might remove the hindrances t.
your getting up to the Gospel well. Yes,
take it for granted that the work is done
and now like Oriental shepherds, pToceet
to water the sheep.
But some one says in the audience: "Not
withstanding all you have said this morn
ing, find ne-allevintion for my troubles.
Well, am nofthrough yet. 1 haveleft tn.
most potent consideration for the last.
am going to soothe you with the thought O.
heaven. However talkative we may be
there will come time when the stoutest an(
most emphatic interrogation will evoke
from us no answer. AS soon as we have
closed our lips for the final silence, no pow
er on earth can break that taciturnity. Bu
where, o Christian, will be your spirit? Ir
a scene of infinite gladness. The spring
morning of heaven waving its blossoms il
the bright air. Victors fresh from battle
showing their scars. The rain of earthly
sorrow struck through with the rainbow Of
eternal Joy. In one group God and angels
and the redeemed-Paul and Silas, Latimel
and Ridley, Isaiah and jeremiah, Paysor
and John Milton, Gabriel and Michael the
archangel. Long line of choristers reaching
across the hills. Seas of joy dashing to the
white beach. COnquerers marching from
gate to gate. You among them.
Oh, what great flock of sheep God will
gather around the celestial well. No stone
on the wells mouth, while the Shepherd
waters the sheep. There Jacob will recog.
Mise Rachel the shepherdess. And standing
on one side of the well Of eternal rapture,
your children; and standing on the other
side of eternal rapture, your Christian
ancestry, you will be bounded on all sides
by a Joy so keen and grand that no other
world has ever been permitted to experience
it. Out of that one deep we'll Of heaven, the
Shepherd will dip reunion for the bereaved,
wealth for the poor health for the sick, rest
for the weary. And then all the flock Of the
Lords sheep will lie down in the green
pastures, and world without end we will
praise the Lord that on this summer Sab
bath morning, we were permitted to study
the story Of Jacob and Rachel the shep
herdess at tho we'll in Mesopotamia.
Come, all ye thirsty! You have an un-
defined longing in your soul. You trie6
money-making that did not satisfy you
You tried Office under Government thai
did not satisfy you. You tried pictures and
sculptures but works of art did not satisfy
YOU. You are as much discontented with
this life as the celebrated French author
who felt that he could not any longer en-
dure the misfortunes of the world, and who
said: sat o'clock this afternoon 1 shall
put an end to my own existence. Mean
while I must toll on up to that time for the
susteuance of my family And he wrote
on his book until the clock struck four
when he folded up his manuscript, and, by
his own hand, concluded his earthly life.-
There are men in this house who are per
fectly discontented. Unhappy in the past
unhappy to-day, to be unhappy forever, IN
less you come to this Gospel WELL This
satisfies the soul with high, deep, allah
sorbing and eternal satisfaction. It comes
I and it offers the most unfortunate man sc
much Of this Norld as is best for him, and
/ throws all heaven into the bargain. The
wealth of Cresus, and Of all the Stewarts,
aud of all the BariDgs, and all the Roth
schilds is only a poor, miserable shilling
compared with the eternal fortunes thai
Christ offers you to-day. In the far East,
there was king who used once year to
get on a scales. while on the other side the
scales were placed gold, and silver, and
gems indeed, enough were placed there to
balance the king; then, at the close Of the
weighing, all those treasures were thrown
among the populace. But Christ to-day
steps on one side the scales and on the
other side are all the treasures of the uni
verse, and He says "All are yours-all
height, all depth, all length, all breadth,
all eternity all are yours We don't ap-
preciate the promises of the Gospel. When
an aged clergyman was dying-a man very
eminent in the Church-a young theologi;
cal student stood by his side, and the aged
YOU give me some comfort in my dying
hour?' "No," said the young man; 81
can't talk to you on this subject; you know
all about it, and have known it so long,
"Well," said the dying man, '.just recite
to me some promises The young man
thought moment" and he came to this
promise "The blood of Jesus Christ
cleanseth from all SIM" and the old man
| capped his hands, and in his dying mo-
ment said "That's just the promise have
been waiting for. ''The blood of Jesus
Christ cleanseth from all sin" 20 ooh, the
warmth, the grandeur, the magnifcence OF
the promises
Come, also, to this Gospel well, all ye
troubled. l do not suppose you have es-
capped. Compare your view of this life al
fifteen years of age with what your view is
of it at forty, or sixty, or seventy. What
a great contrast of opinion! Were you
right then, or are you right now? Two
cups placed in your hands, the one a sweet
cup, the other a sour cup. A cup of Joy
and cup of grief. Which has been the
nearest to being full, and out of which
have you the more frequently partakenf
What different place Greenwood is from
what it used to be? Once it was to you a
grand city improvement, and you went out
on the pleasure excursion, and you ran
laughingly up the mound, and you criti
cised in light way the epitaph. But since
the day when you heard the bell toll at the
gate when you went in with the procession,
it is a sad place, and there is flood Of
rushing memories that suffuse the eye and
overmaster the heart. Oh, you have had
trouble, trouble, trouble. God only knows
how much you have had. 1t is d wonder
you have been able to live through it. II
is wonder your nervous system has not
been shattered, and your brain has moi
reeled. Trouble, trouble. If I could
gather all the griefs, of all sorts from this
great audience, and could put them in one
scroll, neither man nor angel could endure
the recitation. Well, what do you want:
Would you like to have your property back
again? NO. you say, as Christian man,
81 was becoming arrogant, and I think that
is why the Lord took it away. 1 don't
want to have my property back" Well,
would you have your departed friends back
again? ''No," you say, 81 couldn't take
the responsibility of bringing them from a
fearless realm to a realm of tears. ]
couldn't do it, Well, then, what do you
want? A thousand voices in the audience
cry out: Comfort, give us comfort
For that reason l have rolled away the
stone from the wells mouth. Come, all